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Childcare advocates back registry funding and copayment waiver to improve affordability and workforce data
Summary
Childcare advocates asked the House Committee on Social Services Budget to continue $1.1 million in state funding for the Child Care Workforce Registry and to fund a $755,000 copayment waiver to make childcare more affordable for families up to 150% of the federal poverty level.
Logan Stensing of Thrive Kansas and other early-childhood advocates told the House Committee on Social Services Budget that two investments would strengthen childcare affordability and workforce development: continued state general-fund support for the Child Care Workforce Registry and a $755,000 appropriation to waive co-payments for child-care assistance up to 150% of the federal poverty level.
Stensing said the workforce registry — which Kansas began funding last year — tracks employment and professional-development records for child-care workers and is a foundational data tool for policymaking on workforce shortages and training. He urged the committee to continue the $1,100,000 state general-fund support for the registry rather than shift the cost to the Children's Initiative Fund (CIF), which he and others said is experiencing declining tobacco-settlement revenues.
On affordability, Stensing testified that waiving co-payments up to 150% of the federal poverty level would help working families — especially in rural counties with lower wages and high child-care costs. He said the requested $755,000 would make co-payments more affordable and urged the committee to consider it a strategic investment to increase labor-force participation.
Other witnesses, including Adrienne Ullnick of Kansas Action for Children, also referenced the registry and CIF and asked the committee to consider placing the workforce-registry funding in state general funds to preserve CIF dollars for direct early-childhood services.
Ending: Advocates asked the committee to protect and continue registry funding and to adopt the copayment-waiver appropriation as part of the DCF budget; the hearing did not produce a committee vote.
